Friday Challenge – Do Something You’ve Never Done Before

Friday Challenge

For the next four weeks we are presenting The Friday Challenge. These are easy to follow motivating articles from author Shelley Wilson who wrote How I Changed My Life In A Year http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5Ky which featured on the blog earlier this week. It was followed by a guest author interview with Shelley http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5Lb and she kindly agreed to write us four articles which I’d like to share each Friday with you as my gift to you wonderful readers, so that you too may be inspired to make positive changes in your own lives and those around you.

Over to Shelley…

Could You Do Something You’ve Never Done Before?

If I asked you to do something you’ve never done before, what would you choose? Abseiling or white water rafting perhaps, or maybe you would opt for something a little less hair-raising and try a new food. To do something new was one of the first challenges I tackled in my book How I Changed My Life in a Year. As it happens, my plans went slightly askew as I received an opportunity to help my local junior school prepare for exam season.

As I run a holistic health business, I spend my days and evenings de-stressing the general public. I offer treatments such as reflexology and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or ‘Tapping’ as I like to call it.

To be asked by the headmaster to give a demonstration and talk to thirty of the year six children (ages 10 and 11) was a terrifying prospect. I have three children, but that doesn’t mean that the school hall full of them wouldn’t scare me to death. As I was dedicated to my month five challenge – do something I’ve never done before – I couldn’t say no!

My fears surfaced fairly swiftly; fear of making a fool out of myself, fear of thirty impressionable youngsters thinking I was a moron, fear of forgetting my presentation. However, I’d told the headmaster I would do it and so I prepared myself as well as I could. (Sleeping with my copy of Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway by Susan Jeffers may have helped!)

Blinded by my irrational fears I momentarily forgot that Tapping (EFT) was the perfect therapy to alleviate apprehension. My task was all about helping the year six children cope with their trepidation of the impending SAT exams. So as I ran through my presentation, my anxiety gradually lifted. Standing before a sea of shiny, eager faces, who believed I was going to help them, I filled with pride and an eagerness to teach them a valuable self-help tool.

EFT is a simple process which can help alleviate anxiety and deep rooted issues that have a detrimental effect on our day to day life. The fear of the dentist, overeating, depression and so many other ailments can be vanquished using this method. It involves tapping lightly with your fingertips on specific parts of your head, face, body and hands. The tapping action vibrates along meridians (energy lines) within your body and neutralises any blockages. (For more information, or to find a therapist near to you log on to the AAMET site http://www.aamet.org).

The children were amazing and took to the therapy with an infectious enthusiasm, and I was happy to receive positive feedback from the parents once they had rushed home to teach their siblings how to ‘chillax.’

Challenge accepted and achieved; I’d never done that before! Trying something new can open up a world of opportunities, so I extend my challenge to you – Do something you’ve never done before and embrace the experience.

‘How I Changed My Life in a Year’ – http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KAAUE88

Also on Amazon.com

Find Shelley on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/ShelleyWilson72

Next Friday we’ll be back with our second challenge.